Admirer
by Kronos106
Summary: A homicide detective chases a psychopath across several states, eventually ending up in Silent Hill. Read and Review, please. Finally back on track
1. The Chase

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Silent Hill. All locations and people from the games is copyright Konami. All original characters are copyright Kronos106 created for publication on Thank You.  
  
Admirer  
  
Chapter one: The Chase  
  
"Sigh." Homicide Detective Richard Ericson of the F.B.I. let out as he took two of the motion sickness pills out of his carry – on bag and swallowed them with a sip of water.  
  
The commercial flight he had boarded in Albany, New York, should be arriving in Brahms' airport in about forty - five minutes, give or take. Time enough for him to dig the case files out and go through them again to see if there's anything he missed the first time.  
  
It was always the same, each time. Each murder committed in the same brutal, vicious, merciless style, just to give him an extra incentive to put all his wonderful "skills" to use as his quarry had so eloquently decided to put it.  
  
The first victim was discovered about six months ago, a priest in a small church in rural Maine. The priest's throat had been slashed from left to right and he had then been crucified post – humously to the cross behind the main altar's podium.  
  
Detective Ericson had been spending some leave time visiting relatives in Bangor, when he had received the call from the county sheriff. Racing as fast as he could to the church, he arrived to see that the forensics team had already sealed off the site and were swarming all over it looking for any scraps of evidence that could shine some light on the identity of the killer. Ericson then approached Doctor Williams, the lead forensic scientist on hand.  
  
"Afternoon Doc, what do we have so far?" Ericson inquired.  
  
"Well Rich, it seems that someone saw fit to sneak up behind the good reverend here and slice his throat from ear to ear. And if that wasn't enough he seemed to think it was a good idea to try to get him closer to his god by crucifying him afterward using what appear to be old railroad spikes, nice huh?" Williams answered  
  
Detective Ericson had always liked doctor Williams. They had the pleasure of working together on several cases; unfortunately the doc had a tendency to get a little brash and callous concerning his work. Well that was probably the inevitable consequence of subjecting someone to the worst humanity had to offer time and time again. An experience Ericson had the unfortunate privilege of being through himself.  
  
"Anything else?" Ericson asked.  
  
"What about the murder weapon?" he then added.  
  
"Well it was a very sharp bladed weapon, from the length and depth of the cut I'd say maybe five to six inches long, and slightly curved. And Rich when I say sharp I mean razor sharp, it definitely wasn't a piece of scrap metal of broken glass." Williams answered, anticipating Ericson's next question.  
  
"What about physical evidence. Fibres, hair, tissue or blood samples?"  
  
"Absolutely clean. Not a single spec to give us even the slightest lead on this guy's identity."  
  
"Great, a psychopath with cleanliness issues." Ericson muttered under his breath.  
  
"I think you may be jumping to premature conclusions Rich." Williams stated.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that the killer left us a letter."  
  
"Excuse me!" Ericson exclaimed.  
  
"So we have a killer with cleanliness issues, and a Jack the Ripper complex, leaving letters for the people who find the victims."  
  
"Not quite Rich, you see the letter he left wasn't to some anonymous person. It was specifically addressed to you."  
  
Detective Ericson took the envelope and looked it over. It was a plain white envelope with his name printed neatly on the front of it. A bloodstain was on the top right corner of it.  
  
"Did you test the blood on the envelope to see who's it was?" Ericson asked.  
  
"Please, Rich! I know my job! That was the very first thing I did. It matches the preacher's." Williams answered exasperatedly.  
  
"Figures." Ericson stated as he opened the envelope and read the letter inside.  
  
My Dear Detective Ericson  
I wish first to humbly convey my deepest admiration and respect for you, as I have been following your career for the past several years, through newspapers and magazine articles.  
  
That having been said, I must also say how disappointed I am in the selection of cases you have been receiving lately. Not a single one of them were worthy of your attention and exquisite skills. Oh... a wife murders her husband for cheating on her, that one took you what three minutes to solve. And how about the gang shootings? A wonderful example of a case for you. Let the animals kill each other, I mean, who really cares? I don't, do you? No challenge there.  
  
Now I believe that someone must rectify this situation, and you, being the upstanding servant of the public trust that you are, would never refuse a case regardless of how beneath your talents it was. Therefore it seems that the task of righting this wrong falls to me.  
  
The priest was only the first, I shall give you a general idea of the location where each of my consecutive murders will be, but it will be up to you to use your amazing skills to find me. Of course it wouldn't do for me to kill the dregs of society to showcase your skills, instead I will target the cream of the crop as it were. The people that others would actually care about if they were to leave us.  
  
I look forward to working with you in the future, and I know with your skills you'll get to meet me face to face in no time.  
  
Your Biggest Admirer  
Marshall Brixton  
  
P.S. – If you hurry to the airport, you should be able to make the next flight to Flint, Michigan.  
  
Ericson handed the letter back to doctor Williams and simply stated  
  
"I need to get to the airport, now!"  
  
That was how it began, always the letters praising his skills, accompanying the horrible murders Brixton committed. Social – workers, free clinic doctors, philanthropists, nurses, even one case of a six year old child being savagely killed. That one still gave Ericson nightmares. A total of fourteen murders committed in all.  
  
Ericson put the files back in his bag and took out his travel mirror and looked into it. He was still in pretty good shape for a forty – five year old man, clean-shaven, brown hair, although that was starting to go grey and needed a trim something awful. He kept healthy and fit, especially for his work, and would be considered attractive still, if it weren't for the obvious lack of sleep on his features.  
  
At that point the captain's voice came on over the intercom.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are making our final approach to Brahms commercial airport. Please fasten your seatbelts, and return your tray tables to their upright, locked position. Thank you for flying with us and have a pleasant stay in Brahms.  
  
"Brahms." Ericson thought. The town the last letter from Brixton had named as his next destination.  
  
"Well, better get to work." Ericson said to himself as he exited the aircraft. 


	2. Brahms

**Legal Stuff:** I do not own silent hill or any of the characters related to it in any of the games. I only own the original characters created for this story.

The airport terminal was a bustle of people coming and going and trying to reach connecting flights. After what seemed like an hour Detective Ericson finally retrieved his bag, and recovered his sidearm from airport security.

Just as he was about to leave he heard a deep friendly voice ask "Excuse me sir, are you Detective Ericson?"

Ericson turned to face the one who addressed him and was surprised to see a six foot tall man, with short cropped hair, dark brown skin, and a build like a professional linebacker towering over him.

"Er... Ah yes, I'm Detective Ericson, and who might I be talking to?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sergeant Tyrone Peters. The lieutenant has assigned me to be your partner for as long as your case requires you to be in the county."

"Alright, so sergeant Peters what has your department done since we contacted you about the situation?" Ericson asked.

"Since we haven't got a description, fingerprints, or anything else of the suspects' to go on, the lieutenant could only really authorize extra patrol deployments, and put up checkpoints at the entrances to the town. We checked up on the passenger roster from the only other flight coming in from your point of origin, and all the passengers checked out. We had actually expected that as we're assuming the name Marshall Brixton is an alias because there's no birth certificate, drivers' license, bank account information, or medical records anywhere in that name." Peters answered.

"There was a M. Brixton in the phone book a few towns over, but the M stood for Marcus, and the fact that the man was seventy-five years old took him out of suspicion." Peters added.

"Well I suppose with the limited information we had to give you, you guys have done all you can. At this point it would be best if we went to the station, and went over deployments, and establish a base where I can co-ordinate the search from." Ericson said.

"Sure thing detective. My car's this way. It's the silver Grand Am over there." Peters said.

"Thanks. Oh and since we're going to be partners it would probably be best if you call me Rich, all my friends do."

"Ok Rich." Peters answered, flashing a wide smile.

"Then it would be a good idea if you called me Tyrone" he added.

The two men left the airport parking lot and proceeded to the police station. Along the way Tyrone decided to ask Rich a few questions.

"So Rich any idea why this whack-job is so fixated on you personally?"

"Well he claims to be upset at the fact that the justice department has been handing me lighter cases than what I used to receive normally." Rich replied.

"So have they? Been giving you easier cases I mean?"

"Yes, the reason for it being that all personnel in my field need to undergo regular physical examinations periodically. My last one showed that my stress levels were dangerously high. If I didn't do something to reduce them I could get lingering health problems, such as insomnia, ulcers and other physical and mental disorders. So in order to make sure my health doesn't go to hell in a hand basket, they began giving me less stressful cases for the time being."

"Damn. Kind of makes me glad I live in a small town where things like this hardly ever happen." Tyrone stated.

Rich just laughed. "Yeah, well someone has to deal with this type of thing when it comes up, and I happen to be very good at my job."

The car pulled into the police station at around nine forty-five pm. Tyrone took rich directly to see the lieutenant.

"Alright detective, we set aside one of the briefing rooms for you to use, and we've assembled the people working on this case in there. They're waiting for you now." The lieutenant informed him.

"Thanks Lieutenant, I'll get started right away." Rich said as he headed toward the briefing room.

"All right all of you settle down!" Tyrone called out to the assembled officers. "This is detective Richard Ericson, he's going to fill you in on search patterns and the killers' m.o., so listen up."

"Thank you sergeant, I'll make this short as we still have a lot to do. The only name we have right now, as you know, is Marshall Brixton. He's already killed fourteen people, knows all our moves, as he leaves no forensic evidence behind whatsoever. He's also in the habit of leaving letters personally addressed to me, telling me the general location of his next victim, which is why I'm here now."

One of the officers raised their hand. "Sir isn't that just giving him what he wants? Playing his game?"

"Yes it is, but he's warned us if I don't go along with it he'll keep killing and stop leaving the clues altogether. We figure some evidence to go on is better than none." Rich replied.

"Now this guy only goes after good salt-of-the-earth people intentionally, and the killings are exceptionally brutal, so we need to catch this guy A.S.A.P. Sergeant Peters is now handing out patrol routes, follow these exactly and call in any unusual activity immediately. That's all people, dismissed." Rich said

"Well nothing to do now except wait Rich. I bet it's been a long time since you got any decent sleep. We got you a room at a motel just two blocks down the road. I'll give you a lift, and you can get some sleep while we wait. Tyrone suggested.

"Yeah that's probably for the best." Rich agreed, as he hadn't got any decent sleep in three days.

As Tyrone's' car pulled away from the motel Rich fiddled with the lock and finally let himself in. The room was a basic one with a dresser in one corner, a television on a stand in the other, and a single bed. A nightstand stood next to the bed holding a table lamp, and a telephone. Rich turned off the lights and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He was awakened by seemingly nothing, what could only have been a few minutes later but the room had undergone a drastic change in that time. The bed was old and tattered; all of the wooden furniture had become badly water damaged. The lamp was missing its shade and the bulb in the socket was broken. The television screen was covered in dust and the antenna were bent and broken. The strangest thing though was the walls appeared to be caked with, what could only be described as blood.

As Rich was attempting to inspect the walls he heard a sudden snap followed by a hissing sound. He turned around to notice the television had come on, and snow was showing on the screen. Rich walked over and shut off the television, only to have it turn back on.

"What the hell?" Rich wondered aloud.

He walked around to the rear of the set and unplugged it from the wall, however the television refused to shut off.

"Okay, this is new." Rich stated aloud.

"No... wait... stop... please don't hurt me." A soft voice came from the screen.

"Huh??" Rich asked as he peered closer at the set. He could barely make out a faint image on the screen. The figure was small, maybe a child, and it looked familiar. The snow on the screen had almost cleared to the point where he could identify the image when he realized he was no longer alone in the room.

Rich turned around and got a brief impression of something moving quickly toward him, something with teeth. The thing launched itself at him and just before its jaws closed around his throat...

"RINNNG, RINNG, RINNG," the phone on the bedside table had woken him from his nightmare. Rich picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.

"Hello" he muttered into the phone.

"Rich it's Tyrone. We've found another victim. I'll be by in a few minutes to pick you up.

"Okay see you in a few." Rich answered as he hung up the phone.

"Damn what a nightmare. I really need to take a vacation when this is all over." Rich thought to himself.

After a ten-minute car ride, Rich and Tyrone arrived at the crime scene, a small garage. The officer on duty turned to them and said, "I have to warn you guys, this isn't pretty."

"Trust me, I'm used to it by now." Rich stated dryly.

"So who's the victim?" Tyrone asked.

"An auto-mechanic who does a lot of free work for various charities, and also did work for only the cost of the parts for struggling single parents." The office replied.

Rich entered the dimly lit garage and he could already smell the scent of blood mixing with gasoline and motor oils. He went over to the body and removed the sheet covering it. The torso had several screwdrivers and chisels plunged into it up to the handle, blood freely oozed out of these wounds. What was left of the head looked as if someone had decided to go to town on it with a sledgehammer.

Clutched in the latest victims right hand was an envelope, once again addressed to Detective Ericson.

"Wait this one looks different from the previous ones." Rich observed.

"Ah, hell it's written in blood this time." He said as he looked down at the letter.

Rich opened the envelope and read the letter only this time, gone were the words praising him, the paper had only two words written on it, both of them in blood.

"What the hell, where on earth is Silent Hill?" Rich started to ask as he turned to the other two men, and abruptly trailed off as he saw the grave looks he was getting from the both of them.


	3. Of rumours and stories

Disclaimer: I don't own silent hill or any of the characters from the games, all original characters are mine however

**A/N:** thanks to everyone who is reading and who are reviewing as well, I tried to answer all reviews personally via email but if you haven't received it, accept my apologies.

Chapter 3: Of Rumours and Stories.

"Okay does anyone want to tell me what it is about this Silent Hill place that makes you give me looks like that?" Rich asked.

"Well... It's just that there's been some weird stories and rumours circulating about that town." Tyrone answered.

"Sirs, the forensic specialist is here." One of the on duty officers cam in and informed them.

"So Rich, where's the stiff this time?" The familiar voice of Doctor Williams asked.

"It's over here Doc, and would you please try to be a little more compassionate?" Rich tiredly asked.

"Rich do you know this abrasive individual?" Tyrone asked.

"Oh I'm sorry. Tyrone Peters, this is David Williams, David Williams, this is Tyrone Peters." Rich said introducing the two.

Tyrone took the Doc's hand and shook it all the while sizing him up. About five foot-nine inches, grey hair and beard, medium build, and most prominent a smug arrogant way about him.

No doubt about it, Tyrone did not like this man. Something about him just didn't seem right, however Tyrone had run into people like him before, so he had just learned to grin and bear it.

"Well Rich, I've got work to do here, so if you and your friend would kindly get out from underfoot so that I can get started." The Doc asked

"Yeah okay. Come on Tyrone let's get going." Rich said.

Just as the two men turned to leave the Doc called out. "Hey Rich! I almost forgot, your son called for you at the station. I told the Lieutenant that I would let you know."

"Thanks Doc, I'll call him as soon as we get to the station." Rich said.

As Tyrone and Rich walked back to the car, Rich turned to Tyrone and asked, "So what are the rumours surrounding Silent Hill that have everyone so spooked?"

Tyrone took a deep breath and began. "There are all sorts of stories about people heading into that town and then never coming out. The ones who do come out tell crazy stories about monsters, and being judged for their sins and the like. You know, real religious zealot things. In fact I was assigned to investigate one of those cases. Man by the name of James Sunderland tried to convince us to prevent people from going in there. I went to check his claims, but didn't get far. All entrances into the town were blocked off. Sunderland had said something about a path through the graveyard that would lead into the South Vale portion of the town, but we couldn't find it. Not that anyone can find much of anything in that town's perpetual fog." Tyrone said.

"I can see where that would be a little on the freakish side, but are you sure it's not just a case of one nutcase causing problems?" Rich asked.

"That's what I thought at first too, however I did some deeper digging and it seems about eighteen years ago our department sent an officer into the town to investigate a drug ring, which we thought was linked to cult activity. She came back with tales of a dark god being reborn, and a lot of other weird stories." Tyrone answered.

"What was the name of the officer? I'd like to talk to her when we get to the station." Rich said.

"The officers name was Bennett, Cybill Bennett. However she left the precinct soon after she returned from Silent Hill. She didn't leave a forwarding address."

"Well this Silent Hill place sounds like a real tourist locale. Monsters, cults, and drug rings, the perfect place for a family holiday. Must have one hell of a brochure." Rich said.

"Actually, before all the problems started, it was." Tyrone said as he turned the car into the police station parking lot.

"Hold on a second Tyrone I have to call my son back" Rich said as they entered.

"Yeah the forensic guy said something about that. Do you have a picture of him with you?" Tyrone asked.

"Sure do, this was taken with my parents a few months ago." Rich said handing him a photo from his wallet.

"Cute kid, and these are your parents huh? You can kind of see the resemblance between you and your father." Tyrone stated.

"No you can't. You see I was adopted so there shouldn't be any resemblance at all." Rich said smiling.

"What happened to your biological parents?" Tyrone asked.

"I'm not sure. They died a long time ago. I was adopted by the Ericsons when I was ten. They assume my birth parents were killed in an accident by the way they found me. I was walking down the highway in the state of New York when a highway patrol car found me. I was covered in cuts and bruises and was walking like I was in a trance. I was then adopted about a year later." Rich said.

"If you were nine when the accident happened, why can't you remember it?" Tyrone asked.

"I can't remember anything from before that day. The psychologists that I was sent to thought I had endured a horrible trauma and that my mind just sort of blocked it out." Rich answered.

"Damn, that's rough. Wait a minute; I don't see your wife in the picture. Was she working the camera?" Tyrone asked.

"No she was killed three years ago in a traffic accident. A drunk driver ran a red light and broadsided my wife's car. A half-ton pickup truck slamming into a hatchback like that, not much doubt about who's going to bear the worst of it." Rich answered anger starting to cloud his features.

"I'm sorry Rich, I have a wife too. I couldn't imagine what I'd do if anything ever happened to her." Tyrone said sympathetically.

"Anyway, I have to give my son a call." Rich said as they entered the main lobby of the station.

"Okay Rich, I'll go get some supplies and backup if we're going into Silent Hill." Tyrone said.

The office was abuzz with officers coming and going, and answering phone calls regarding the murder of the auto mechanic, so it took Tyrone about half an hour to collect all the supplies and personnel he was after. When he returned to the front lobby Rich was just finishing up his phone call.

"Everything all right at home?" Tyrone asked.

"Yeah everything's fine. What's the status on the backup?" Rich asked.

"There's the problem. I was only able to get two officers willing to go to that town. Due to the barricades at the entrances to Silent Hill, the captain decided to deploy highway blockades, as he believes Brixton won't be able to get into the town. So basically any backup we get is voluntary." Tyrone answered while rubbing the bridge of his nose,

"Wonderful. So where are these two officers?" Rich asked.

"They're waiting in the parking lot. We should go meet them now." Tyrone answered.

They headed into the parking lot and met up with an athletic red haired man, and a brunette woman.

"Detective Ericson, these are officers Maxwell Mac Ready and Kara Greene. They're the two who volunteered to help us." Tyrone said.

"Yeah that's right I volunteered, but I'm really only going along to see this town for myself, and to disprove all these stupid rumours." The man identified as Mac Ready stated.

"I see." Rich said frowning. "And what about you officer Greene?"

"Max is my partner. If I can't talk him out of going into a dangerous place the least I can do is go as well to back him up."

At this Max just sighed and shook his head. "Kara has bought into all the stories floating around about that place." He said.

"Well Officer Mac Ready, might I remind you that this is no time to become complacent, as we are tracking a multiple murderer here." Rich said sharply.

"Yes sir, I apologize." Max said.

"Tyrone can I speak with you over here for a moment, in private?" Rich asked.

"Yeah sure. What's up Rich?" Tyrone asked after getting out of earshot of the other two.

"Are we sure that these are the only two officers willing to go in with us? Mac Ready isn't taking this situation seriously enough, and Greene is obviously afraid of going anywhere near that town. I mean look at her. She's nervous fidgeting and clearly doesn't want to be here. Maybe we should just leave them here and proceed in by ourselves." Rich explained.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. We're going to need two groups at least. Silent Hill is larger than you'd think, and I really think splitting into two one man teams would not be wise." Tyrone said.

"All right, but I think we should each take one of the other two with us, it wouldn't be prudent to send them in together. Too much margin for error." Rich suggested.

"Agreed. Which one do you want to take with you?" Tyrone asked.

"I'll take Greene. If I went in with Mac Ready I'd probably end up killing him." Rich answered while shaking his head.

Rich and Tyrone walked back over to where the other officers were waiting. Tyrone waited until everyone had gathered around and then unfolded a map.

"Okay... here's how we're going in. Officer Greene and Detective Ericson will enter north of Toluca Lake, into Old Silent Hill and search there. Officer Mac Ready and I will come in south of the lake and search though the South Vale area. After searching all major buildings we'll rendezvous here at the entrance to Lakeside Amusement Park. If we've caught Brixton by that time we'll all exit though South Vale.

Now we all have radios and I suggest you use them. Keep in constant contact and never leave your partner's sight." Tyrone said.

After handing out copies of the map to all four of them, everyone nodded their understanding and entered their respective cars, pulling out of the parking lot, and onto the street. Their destination Silent Hill.

**A/N:** sorry about the slow update rates, but I will be trying to update at least once every two weeks now. And before anyone starts wondering, yes in the next chapter they will actually enter the town.


	4. Old Silent Hill

**Authors Note: **Thanks again for your reviews, I e-mailed each of you personally, who did, and if you didn't receive it forgive me. I know I said I would try to update every 2 weeks, but writers block strives to make liars of us all. Once again I don't own Silent Hill, or any canon characters, just the original ones contained within.

"It's just this town… There's something wrong with it."

-Angela Oroscoe-

The Brahms department police cruiser proceeded down the street leading into the northernmost area of Silent Hill.

Kara was intently watching the road ahead while moving at about only ten miles per hour.

"Tyrone wasn't kidding when he said that the fog here isn't conductive to a search. You can hardly see more than twenty feet in front of you at any given time." Rich stated.

Kara only nodded and continued to concentrate on the road in front of her, the bright fog light situated in between the flashing red and blue lights on the roof of the cruiser doing little to dispel the fog or illuminate their path.

Rich let out a brief grunt as the car stopped short suddenly.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"It's the road ahead, look for yourself."

Rich stepped out of the car and walked around to the front.

The road had ended in a sudden drop. Looking across the chasm he estimated it was a good fifteen to twenty feet wide.

Rich walked back and forth along the ridge, stopping to drop a stone down into it. When after a few minutes he still didn't hear the stone hit bottom he turned to Kara and said "Alright, climbing down this side and then up the other is out. It's way too deep, and it's obviously too far to jump"

"So how do we get across then?" Kara asked.

"It looks like there's enough room to sidestep across on that side if we keep our backs flat against the chain link fence there." Rich answered pointing to an old rusted fence bordering the rift in the road.

"I'm going to get some things from the trunk first, before we go any further." Kara stated.

After a few minutes Kara returned carrying a twelve-gauge shotgun and a beige coloured burlap satchel.

"What's in the bag?" Rich asked.

"First-aid kit, backup radio, flashlight, and some extra shells for the shotgun." She answered.

"Don't you think that's a bit much?" Rich asked sceptically.

"Look you, and the sergeant, and Max might not believe the stories about this place, but I do and I'm not taking any chances while I'm in there." Kara replied somewhat harshly.

"Alright, alright, relax. I'll go first and once I'm across you follow." Rich said.

Rich slowly began across, keeping flush with the fence as he moved, and, after a few harrowing minutes, was safely across on the other side.

"Okay, it's relatively safe. Come on across." Rich said.

Kara began sidling across, holding onto the links in the fence for support. She was almost to the other side of the chasm when the rusted links she was holding onto snapped suddenly and she fell forward into the hole.

Rich dove forward as soon as he saw Kara loose her balance, and just barely managed to grab hold of her right hand.

Kara hit the side of the cliff hard, slamming her shoulder into the protruding rock and letting out a loud "OW!! Goddammit!"

Rich hauled her up to safety and asked, "Are you okay?"

"No, I hit my shoulder hard against the rock" Kara replied wincing. "But I should be okay soon" she added.

"Okay, let's get moving." Rich started to say when Kara suddenly let out a cry of

"Oh crap! I lost the satchel with all of my extra gear in it! I must have dropped it when I fell."

"Nothing we can do about that now. If it's down there it's gone. How many shells so you have for the twelve-gauge?" Rich asked.

"It only carries six inside." Kara replied sounding very depressed.

"I guess that will have to do" Rich said.

As they walked down the fog-covered street, they kept on alert. Row upon row of seemingly abandoned houses, and neglected roads didn't help allay any of Kara's fears.

"They named this town well. It's nothing if not silent." Rich observed

"Yes, but it's not a good silence. It's like there's nothing-alive here, no birds, no crickets, nothing. Or if there is, it's afraid to make any noise, because it doesn't want to draw attention to itself." Kara replied.

Rich grabbed the radio he had in his pocket and switched it to the pre-determined frequency.

"Tyrone, this is Rich. How are things going in South Vale? Hello? Tyrone can you hear me? That's odd, I can't raise the others on my radio." Rich said.

"Here let me try mine, yours might just be malfunctioning." Kara said while fiddling with the settings on her radio.

After a few minutes of trying, Kara turned back to Rich and said, "Mine's not working either, and it's not just interference. It's like there's no-one there to receive the signal."

As they proceeded down the road Kara kept looking back and forth nervously as if something was going to jump out of the darkness at her.

"Hey what's that up ahead?" Rich asked.

"What!!" Kara exclaimed pointing the shotgun in the direction Rich had just indicated.

Off in the distance, obscured by the fog there was a figure running full speed from one of the alleyways.

"Come on! It may be Brixton!" Rich called back to Kara as he ran off in the direction the figure took.

Rich, already having a good head start on Kara quickly became a faded outline in the fog that she desperately tried to follow. Fortunately for her he soon stopped and she was able to begin to catch up with him.

"Damn it! I lost him." She heard Rich exclaim as she came jogging up to him.

"What do you mean we were right on his tail… Whoa!!" Kara cried out as the toe of her boot got caught in a crack in the pavement and sent her slamming down hard onto the road.

"Ow! For crying out loud, I hate this place! None of the monsters people said were here, but definitely all of the hazards." Kara said as she pushed herself up off the ground.

"Oh gross! Now what did I put my hand into?" Kara asked as she stood up, her hand covered in a sticky red fluid.

Rich bent down and examined the small puddle Kara had placed her hand in. "It's blood." He said after a few moments. "And there's more over there. It seems the guy we were following was injured somehow and has now left us a trail to follow. Come on, we may catch up with him yet"

The pair followed the blood trail to the opening of a narrow alley, created by two large oppressive looking buildings.

"I'll go in first, and you come after keeping my back covered." Rich told Kara.

Rich started down the alley, keeping his eyes open for anywhere someone might be able to leap out at him. It started to become harder to see as the overshadow from the buildings on either side blocked out what little light there was, casting the alley into near-total darkness.

Rich was unable to find any evidence of the person he was following until he reached the end of the alley.

"Um… Kara maybe you shouldn't come any further back here." Rich suggested.

"What, why not?" Kara asked moving around Rich to get a look at what he saw.

There at the end of the alley, propped up against a brick wall was the man the two officers had been following. His left leg was bent at three places, obviously broken. He had long deep gashes across his midsection from being eviscerated. His left arm had been completely torn from its socket and was currently missing. The front of his face was gone with jagged marks along the sides of the skull making it look like it had been bitten off. White steam rose from the wounds into the chill air.

"Oh good lord." Kara said running to the nearest garbage can. Seconds later the sound of vomiting echoed though the alley.

Rich knelt to get a better look at the body, covering his mouth and nose with his hand while thinking, "I've seen some bad murder scenes before but this one is by far the most brutal."

"Hello, what's this?" Rich asked as his attention was drawn to light glinting off of something held in the corpse's hand.

"What did you find?" Kara asked wiping her mouth on her sleeve, sounding and looking somewhat sickly.

"It's a key. I can only make out the last word on the tag the rest is too faded. Something café.

"Yeah well, I think we've spent enough time in this alley. Let's get out of here." Kara said

It was then that the radio clipped to the lapel of Kara's jacket began to emit a faint static, which grew increasingly louder with each passing second.

"What's up with your radio?" Rich asked Kara.

A few seconds later another noise joined the static. It resembled someone running his or her fingernails across a blackboard. It wasn't long before they saw what was making the noise.

The thing was humanoid, appeared to be completely devoid of any skin. It had long gangly arms with bony fingers and long fingernails, which were carving gouges into the brick wall it was dragging them across. Its head was split vertically with long sharp teeth on either side, and it made a gurgling noise as it shuffled toward them.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Kara screamed.

"Probably what killed our friend down the alley there. Shoot it!" Rich replied.

Both officers opened fire on the monstrosity barring their path, the muzzle flash from their guns illuminating the dark alley sporadically.

The creature was surprisingly nimble and was able to avoid the majority of the shots, the others gaining only ineffectual, glancing blows.

With a burst of speed the creature then launched itself into the air and landed directly beside Rich. Before he could react its jaws clamped down on his right forearm, drawing blood and forcing him to drop his gun, while screaming out in pain.

However Rich's instincts soon kicked in, and he came around with a vicious left hook to the creatures head, knocking it back against a wall.

Kara wasted no time monopolizing on this fortunate turn of events, pumping two shells from the shotgun directly into the things midsection, causing it to slump against the wall. Rich retrieved his handgun and took the opportunity to put a single round into the beasts head, causing it to fall to the ground, a pool of its own blood forming around it in a putrid black ichor. With the things death the static coming from the radio had fallen silent.

"Are you alright?" Kara asked Rich.

"No." Rich replied looking down at his blood stained forearm. "I'm going to need to get this bandaged."

After exiting the alley Kara pulled her map out of her pocket and said, "There's a café marked on this map about two blocks that way." Pointing in the direction the map showed. "Maybe that key we found is to it."

They headed toward the café, keeping their eyes peeled for any other nasty surprises along the way. Rich turned to Kara and said with a forced smile, "If it's any consolation I believe the stories about this place now too."

"Actually that's very little consolation at all." Kara said smiling.

"How many shells do you have left for the shotgun?" Rich asked.

"Only two. I used up four fighting that thing." Kara answered.

They arrived outside an old diner-style building about five minutes later, and sure enough the door was locked.

"Okay let's try the key." Rich said and inserted the old key into the lock. With a rusty sounding "Chack" and a loud creak the door to the café swung open.

All the tabletops and counters in the café were covered in a thin layer of dust. There was a broken old jukebox at one end and an old telephone at the other.

"I'm going to try to find something to bandage your arm with." Kara said as she headed toward the rear of the building.

"Right. I'll see if the phone's working. Maybe I can get us some backup, or a tactical air strike, or something." Rich replied.

He picked up the receiver and put it to his ear, after depressing the cradle several times he hung the phone back up and headed back to the counter just as Kara was coming out.

"Any luck with the phone?" Kara asked.

"No, it's dead. Just like everything else in this town" Rich answered.

"Well, I found some clean towels and some packing tape, so I can knock together a makeshift bandage for your arm. Please roll up your sleeve."

Kara spent the next five minutes patching up Richs' arm.

"I suppose we should get back to searching again." Rich began to say but was interrupted by the phone in the corner starting to ring.

"I thought you said it was dead." Kara said.

"It was." Rich answered as he walked over to it and lifted the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Why hello detective Ericson." A garbled voice said.

"I am so glad that you found your way here, it wouldn't have done for me to kill that mechanic, and then have you give up due to the stories surrounding this place."

"Brixton is that you?" Rich asked.

"Yes, that is what you know me as. It's nice to finally get to talk to you directly." The voice answered.

"What is it you want from me?" Rich asked sharply.

"Oh it has nothing to do with what I want from you. It's what the town wants from you. You see that's what it's really all about. Not your skill, or your cases, it was all done just to get you here." Brixton replied.

"What do you mean? Why did you bring me to this god-forsaken place?" Rich demanded.

"That's going to have to be a story for another time. If I were you, I'd be more concerned about your friends on the opposite side of town. Did they not answer your radio calls because they couldn't receive them, or did something like your friend in the alley get to them?" And with that ominous question looming over Rich's head the phone went as dead as it had been five minutes ago.


	5. Encounters in South Vale

Disclaimer: I do not own Silent Hill or any of the canon characters. I only own the original characters.

Authors note: Thanks to all of you for your reviews. Starting with the next chapter I will be answering them at the end of the chapters. Also this story will be posted under the R rated category with the next update. I took a close look at what I wrote and what I want to do and decided the change is for the best.

**Chapter 5: **Encounter in South Vale

The light glinted off the rusted old metal for a few seconds before disappearing off to the right.

"Hey Max, would you please hold the flashlight steady. I can't see what I'm doing very well without it." Tyrone said as he turned away from the lock he was working on.

"Sorry Sarge, I just thought I heard something off in the forest there." Max said as he moved the light back onto the lock.

"Any luck with that thing?" Max asked.

"No it's like all the tumblers in the lock are completely fused together." Tyrone replied standing up.

"So how are we supposed to get in? Nathan Avenue is the only viable way into South Vale."

"It looks like we're going to have to try to find that path in the graveyard."

Tyrone and Max headed back to the observation decks' parking lot. Looking over the forest landscape they could see Toluca Lake off in the distance. The same fog obscuring the roads was rolling over the still waters of the lake.

"I wonder how Kara and Detective Ericson are making out with their search?" Max asked.

"Probably fine. They would have radioed us if they ran into any problems." Tyrone answered confidently.

"Anything you want to grab from the car Max, you'd best get it now. I don't know how long we'll be down there."

"Right I'll be back in a few minutes."

Tyrone checked the flashlights he had brought with him and made sure he had extra batteries. Just as he was finishing the equipment check, he saw Max walking back up to him.

"What is that you have on your back?" Tyrone asked.

"It's my hunting rifle. I'm a better shot with this than I am with my sidearm. Plus with this scope attached I can't miss." Max replied grinning.

"I see. How far do you think you could see in this fog even with the scope?" Tyrone asked tiredly.

"Oh…Uh…Well I'm still a better shot with this"

Tyrone shook his head and walked toward the stairs muttering under his breath.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and started heading north along the gravel path. The only sounds they could hear were the crunch of the path under their feet. The tall trees parted along the path as they were walking offering them brief glimpses of the lake. Soon after the path opened up into a large clearing.

"Okay here's the graveyard. Let's split up and search for that alternate path, call out if you find anything. Oh and watch your step here the ground's not in the best condition and it can be easy to trip, and I don't think either of us wants to end up with a broken ankle." Tyrone cautioned.

As Tyrone was searching for the path his police radio began emitting a loud static.

What the hell's wrong with my radio? Tyrone wondered. He looked up and saw an image silhouetted in the fog. He moved toward it and quickly lost track of it. It was as he was looking around that the attack came. 

Tyrone was knocked hard against a headstone, shattering it. Lost in the sound of the breaking rock was the even more ominous sound of his revolver flying from his hand and bouncing across the ground out of his reach.

Pinning him to the ground was a creature that resembled a dog. That is if you took a dog and turned it inside out.

Tyrone would have stopped and gawked at how hideous the thing in front of him was if it wasn't for the fact that he was using all the strength he could muster with his left hand to hold back the slavering jaws from his throat. Tyrone's right hand however was frantically reaching for his gun. At the maximum length of his reach his hand closed around something that wasn't his gun, but would be useful nonetheless.

Tyrone brought the chunk of broken headstone around in a swift arc and connected squarely with the dog's left temple, sending it flying. Tyrone quickly got to his feet dropping the rock as he ran and dove to the spot where his revolver landed. He hit the ground, and feeling the comfortable weight of his gun in his hand he rolled around onto his back pointing the gun in the direction that the monster landed, however it was nowhere in sight, and Tyrone's radio had fallen silent.

Tyrone picked himself up off the ground, and with his gun at the ready, looked around for any sign of the thing. He heard movement coming up quickly on his left and spun around to face it, only to see Max jogging up to him.

"What was all that commotion?" Max asked.

"Oh nothing. I just got jumped by a dog that looked like someone had skinned it alive is all." Tyrone replied.

Max looked at Tyrone as if he just said he spotted Elvis two minutes ago.

"Sarge are you feeling okay?" Max asked.

"Yes I'm feeling okay. If you don't believe me look at this broken tombstone. And here's the chunk of it I used to hit the thing." Tyrone snapped.

"Sarge I'm not saying that you weren't attacked, but really, your imagination was probably just working overtime. The atmosphere of this place is inherently creepy, and you were probably just attacked by a mangy, beat up old stray." Max said.

Tyrone placed his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Maybe you're right. I guess my eyes were just playing tricks on me. Any luck finding the pathway?"

"Yeah it's over there. It was kind of hard to find though, someone piled large fifty-pound bags of fertilizer in front of it. The paths pretty overgrown too, looks like it hasn't been used in awhile."

After a few minutes of moving bags of fertilizer, Tyrone and Max continued on their trek toward Silent Hill. While Max still seemed to have his cavalier attitude toward the stories surrounding the town, Tyrone wasn't so sure anymore. The mysterious fog, that dog like thing that almost got him, the cemetery-like quality this whole area seemed to have. No question about it. While Tyrone disliked this town before, he now hated it, and harboured no more doubts as to the sanity of the people who came out of here with those outlandish stories.

As they moved not even a slight breeze made itself present to move the tops of the trees lining the sides of the path. Soon the path became a paved walkway heading underneath an overpass. At this point Tyrone pulled out his map and a flashlight.

"Now if this path leads to where I think it does, we should come out here on East Sanders Street. We'll start checking the businesses and residences that look like they've been accessed recently. With any luck we'll find something, and then we can get the hell out of here"

They resumed moving and came out right where Tyrone thought. After checking a nearby flower shop and finding nothing but rotten flowers they continued across the intersection.

"Anything in the Mexican restaurant?" Tyrone asked Max as he saw him exit the door.

"No, unless you count cockroaches the size of a baseball. I think this whole town should be condemned." Max replied.

"No argument there. It seems to me that no-one has been this way in years let alone our boy." Tyrone stated

"We should probably finish our search of this block and move on." Max suggested

Once they had reached the intersection of Sanders Street and Martin Street they heard a voice from their right side call out. "Hey! You over there! Officers, can you give me a hand here?"

As they approached the source of the cries, they were met with a middle-aged, balding slightly overweight man who was stuck behind a large barred gate blocking off the entrance to Martin Street.

"Wow, am I ever glad you guys came along. I've been stuck here for about the past twenty minutes." The man said.

"Who are you?" Max asked.

"Oh…I'm sorry. My name is Derek Brown. I was passing through this town with my two kids Joseph and Amy, when our car died and we all got separated in this fog. You haven't seen either of them have you?"

"No sorry, we haven't seen anyone here besides you." Tyrone answered.

"How did you get stuck behind there?" Max asked.

"I was looking though one of the stores on Neely Street, and went out one of the back doors, but it closed and locked behind me. It wouldn't have been a big problem if there weren't this big hole on the other side of the street stopping me from getting out the other way. So I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place, as it were." Derek said.

"So what can we do to help?" Tyrone asked.

"I've noticed that the hinges on this gate are loose. With your help we could lift the door up and off it's support and then I could get out." Derek replied.

"All right it sounds like a plan. We'll lift on three okay? One…Two…Three!" Tyrone said as all three of them strained to lift the heavy gate.

"Urgh…Damn this thing weighs a ton. It must be solid iron." Max complained.

While they were struggling with the gate, the sound of a door opening and closing was heard. Seconds later both Tyrone's and Max's radios began emitting static.

"Wait. What's that?" Derek asked sounding panicked.

Derek looked behind him and then turned back white as a sheet and fear plastered all over his features.

"Oh god it found me! Hurry up and get me out of here!" Derek pleaded.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Max asked.

"It's coming, hurry the radios make that static when it's around!" Derek ranted seemingly unable to hold on to what little sanity the town had left him with.

"Okay. Okay." Tyrone said as they all redoubled their efforts to move the gate.

In the middle of lifting a long jagged metal spear burst through the bars between Tyrone and Max, causing both of them to drop the gate.

"What the Hell?" Tyrone exclaimed but then trailed off suddenly.

The spear protruding from between the gates was, unfortunately also sticking out of Derek's chest. Derek was then jerked back and forced face-first onto the ground. It was then Tyrone and Max saw the owner of the spear. He was at least six feet tall, wearing a bloodied butchers apron, and a large pyramid shaped helmet adorned his head.

The Pyramid Head then violently twisted the spear, forcing a gurgled grunt to come from Derek, and ripped the spear out of his back. Derek's last shallow breaths echoed down the street as Pyramid Head turned to leave.

"Hey you freeze! You're under arrest!" Tyrone called out but the thing took no notice of him. "Stop or we'll shoot!" Tyrone added. However Pyramid Head kept walking.

"Max, open fire!" Tyrone ordered.

Both men fired their guns as fast as they could but nothing seemed to faze him, he just kept walking until his outline faded away into the fog.

"Um…what happened here? Why didn't all the ammo we pumped into that guy even slow him down? It was enough to take down an angry rhino." Max commented.

"Damned if I know. What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" Tyrone asked as he reloaded his revolver.

_ Ah hell…Kara please be all right. _Max thought to himself.

* * *

The woman trudged down the old worn path that she knew so well, yet hadn't walked in months. She wrapped her arms around her torso to help ward off the chill in the air. She soon reached her destination, what was left of Wish House.

She opened the door and proceeded to her study. The light coming from under the door told her that the one she came to meet was here already.

She entered her study and sure enough a man wearing a trench coat with the collar turned up and an old hat, which shaded his face only being illuminated slightly by the cigarette the man was smoking.

"I really do wish you wouldn't persist in that filthy habit in my study." The woman complained.

"Really Claudia, you should be more hospitable to your guests." The man chided.

"I'll take it into consideration. Have you succeeded in your part of the plan?" Claudia asked irritated.

"Yes Ericson is in Old Silent Hill as we speak. I was starting to think I had to take out half the eastern seaboard to get him here." The man said jokingly.

"Do you honestly enjoy killing?" Claudia asked.

"Don't get all high and mighty on me Claudia." The man said dropping his cigarette and crushing it out with his foot. "You're as much a part of this as I am. Ericson has someone with him, but we should be able to separate them, and the other two are all the way over in South Vale, where I doubt they'll be of any significant trouble."

"Speaking of South Vale, one of our faithful says she spotted the Angel of Punishment in that area." Claudia said with a look of happiness on her face.

"Angel of Punishment huh? I didn't think you'd be so keen on him being around after what happened to poor Walter, as you always called him." The man said malevolently.

"I can hardly believe that you are one of the faithful. With your words and deeds always so full of spiteful venom." Claudia remarked.

"Please, Sullivan was weak and it broke him. The sooner you admit that the better. Oh and speaking of the faithful I believe it's a bad idea to trust Vincent anymore. I think he's working against us." The man said.

"Now you are being ridiculous. Father Vincent may have doubts but he will come around when he sees how much we've already accomplished." Claudia stated.

"No he won't. He's far too attached to the material things in this world. Take him for one of the faithful if you must, but don't forget I warned you." The man said as he left Claudia alone with her thoughts.


	6. School Days

Chapter 6: School Days 

**Authors Note: **okay first things first, I am indeed back. I'll tell you what happened to me, I went to a cabin in the woods and my friends and I came across this book the "Necronomicon Ex Mortis" roughly translated book of the dead. It unleashed evil in the woods, which took my friends and then came for me. It got in my hand and it went bad, so I cut it off at the wrist. Ya know forget what happened to me it's not important. As always Silent Hill is owned by Konami not me. Thank you list comes at the end of the chapter. (_This highly Evil Dead plugging Author's note was brought to you by S-Mart. Shop smart, Shop S-mart)_

_School's Out for Summer, School's out forever. –Alice Cooper-_

Rich and Kara left the Café and headed out onto the street, going south down Bachman Road. When they reached the crossroads at Matheson Street, Kara brought Rich's attention to something.

"What's that hanging from the streetlight?"

Rich moved forward cautiously. Swaying from the top of the lamp was a long rope with a hangman's noose at the end, with what appeared to be a small child occupying the noose. The child was dressed in a dingy red hooded sweatshirt and torn blue jeans, a brown courier's envelope covering its face.

Kara looked like she was about to throw up. "Oh lord… tell me that isn't really a child hanging there…"

Rich moved closer and began inspecting the body.

"No, it's a dummy. Cloth stuffed with rags. Whoever did this has a sick sense of humour."

Rich took the envelope off of the dummy's face and opened it. Out of the envelope fell a large key ring with more than a dozen different keys on it. There was also a folded piece of paper inside.

Kara looked over Rich's shoulder. "Oh great, another love letter from Brixton!"

Rich carefully read the letter before answering. "No I don't think so. It's not the same handwriting, it isn't as rigid in structure as one of his."

"So what does it say?"

Rich directed the light from his flashlight onto the paper and began to read aloud.

Detective Ericson 

_I believe that's your name isn't it? Well, whatever you call yourself now I couldn't care less. I do, however, care about what you do while you're here._

_If you have any intelligence at all, you'll forget about the murderer you're chasing and take your little friend and get out of Silent Hill._

_I have the feeling that you'll ignore my friendly warning and continue on anyway. If you truly see the need to catch Brixton, you should first head to Midwich Elementary School. The keys on that ring I left you should open the majority of the doors, save for a few._

_You'll need to find a room that's attached to the main library. The room holds the older, infrequently used books. I left a text on the top of the desk there that will be of use to you. It may help you figure out exactly what's going on in this town. It will be far from easy getting there though._

_The area surrounding the school and the school itself may be crawling with monsters._

_One last piece of advice, If you come across a pale woman with silver coloured hair, don't listen to a thing she says. She's gone completely insane as far as I'm concerned._

_Well I suppose I should end this little letter now as I have other important things to attend to, such as convincing your friends in South Vale to give up and go home as well._

_Vincent_

Kara looked at Rich, and asked him. "So I guess the school is our next destination huh? Thought I was done with school." She added laughing gently.

"Yeah it looks like that's our best bet for now." Rich answered.

Sighing and glancing around the street Kara quietly said. "Maybe we should do what that Vincent guy said and just get out of here while we can. I sure as hell don't want to deal with another one of those monsters like that thing in the alley, and I don't think either of us have enough ammo to handle one if we do."

Rich just frowned and shook his head. "We have no choice. I highly doubt our superiors would appreciate the reasoning of "well we tried to bring Brixton in, but there were too many monsters protecting him." Let alone the families of his victims."

Kara turned back to him and opened her mouth, as if to say something, but the words died coming out of her mouth, as her attention shifted to something behind Rich.

"I thought you said that the body was only a dummy." She stated.

"It is. Just rags and cloth, why?"

"Because it's bleeding all over the ground!" Kara exclaimed.

Rich sharply turned around to face the dummy, and saw that Kara was indeed correct. The dummy's eyes were now nothing but spouts of dark red blood, oozing it's way down the body and forming a large pool at the ground beneath it's feet.

"Shit!" Rich exclaimed as he backed up to avoid letting the rapidly spreading pool touch his feet.

As Rich and Kara were pondering this hideous new turn of events, their police radios once again began emitting the increasingly loud static noise.

"Wait, listen. Do you hear that?" Kara asked.

It was a few seconds before Rich also heard it, a quiet sniffing, gurgling sound that was steadily getting louder.

"Oh no, not another one." Kara whispered.

Grabbing Kara's arm, Rich quickly pulled her behind a hedge and ducked down.

"Stay down and keep quiet." Rich whispered.

It was only a few seconds before three shapes could be made out in the fog, approaching the intersection. The things were quadruped, strongly resembling dogs except they had no skin at all, and the red muscles of their bodies shimmering in the dim light. Each one had a long tongue hanging out of their mouths dragging on the ground as they walked.

The sniffing sounds coming from the dogs increased in intensity as they approached the large pool of blood. When they did finally reach it, they quickly shoved their tongues into it and a loud slurping sound echoed through the street.

"Oh geez." Kara groaned as she looked away.

Rich just nodded as he turned a little green himself, unwilling to take his eyes off the monsters as they fed.

In the span of two minutes the large pool of blood was nothing more than a red stain on the cracked concrete of the road.

"Good, maybe now they'll leave." Kara said.

The creatures, having finished their meal, turned to go when one of them stuck its head in the air and began sniffing again. The other two soon joined in smelling the fog-ridden air.

"What the hell are they doing? All the blood's gone." Kara said.

"I'm not sure." Rich answered.

It wasn't until the animals starting heading toward the hedge Rich and Kara were hiding behind did Rich realize what they smelled.

"My arm!" Rich said. "Those things can smell the blood coming out of the wound on my arm."

"Great, what do we do?" Kara asked.

"Run, there are way too many to fight."

Rich and Kara took off west down Matheson Avenue. The dogs heard the movement and let out a loud howl, giving chase. The dogs were hot on their heels all the way down Matheson, until they finally reached Midwich.

Rich fired a couple of shots backward, managing to hit one of the dogs in the head. The animal went down, falling to the ground twitching. The other two creatures broke off the chase long enough to drain their former packmate of all it's blood.

Kara and Rich continued to sprint down Midwich until, to both of their relief's, they saw the outline of the school in the fog. They redoubled their efforts, finding a new source of strength from deep down to help them run the rest of the distance to the door.

They had almost reached the door when they heard the howl of the dogs getting closer. Rich reached the door and pulled frantically on the handle. The door refused to budge an inch.

"Damn it!" Rich yelled as he dug into his pocket for the ring of keys. He shoved key after key from the ring into the lock on the door, none of them unlocking the door and their path to relative safety.

Rich wouldn't have been aware that the dogs had caught up to them if it wasn't for the loud BOOM, BOOM, noise of Kara's 12-gauge as she fired off two shells in the direction of the dogs. Both shots missed their intended targets but managed to buy enough time for Rich to find the right key.

Rich and Kara quickly darted inside the now open door and slammed it hard behind them, relocking it as the first dog leapt and impacted against it uselessly.

Both Kara and Rich flopped down into sitting positions on the floor resting their backs against the wall.

Rich turned to look at Kara. "Well I think it's safe to say that we're not getting back out that way anytime soon."

"No kidding. I'd really rather find a different exit altogether, or at least some more ammunition if we go back out that way. I have two more shells then this thing becomes a paperweight." Kara said hoisting her shotgun.

"I don't think we're going to have much luck with that happening in an elementary school. We'd probably best find some heavy objects to use as clubs, before we try getting out of here." Rich suggested.

"Hey did you notice that our radios started in with the static again when those monsters got close?" Kara asked.

"Yes, it seems to be a direct connection to how close the monsters are to how loud the static is. From now on let's be extra careful when we notice the static and be sure to keep our guards up." Rich said lifting himself up off the floor.

Rich looked around taking in his surroundings. The halls of the old school were deathly quiet, with little to no illumination. The walls, which were probably once a bright blue, were now faded and worn, with places where the paint had peeled away.

A flash of colour from a nearby bulletin board caught Rich's attention. Moving closer he saw it was a pamphlet holder with maps of the school in it.

Taking one of the maps and putting it in his pocket, Rich handed a second map to Kara and nodded toward the darkened hallway.

"Well let's get moving and find this book of Vincent's." Rich said tiredly.

Picking herself up off the floor and holding her shotgun at the ready Kara proceeded down the dark corridor, with Rich watching her back.

**Authors note:** well that's another chapter down, it seemed a little harder to write for me than earlier ones so please leave me a review, telling me what you liked or how much it sucked. Thanks in advance. And no the thank you list.

**Cuiasodo: **Yeah Pyramid Head and Claudia can be real bad news, and things will get worse before they get any better.

**Wolf Ravensoul: **glad you thought the arrest scene was funny, I hadn't intended it to be so, but taking a second look at it as a Silent Hill fan I could definitely see the humour in it.

**Buffyrules: **Don't worry the cast will come into direct contact with people from the games, just not Heather or Douglas. It's about a month before they arrive.

**Deacon87: **glad you liked the dialog, I worked a long time to get the cultists speech correct. It's rewarding to know other people thought it was appropriate.

**PaulC:** Thanks for your review, I'm happy I've got a good mix of suspense and mystery. Now that my schedule is a little more solid, people can start expecting more updates from me, at much closer intervals.

**Havenoname: **thanks for your kind words, I hope you like this one as much.

**Inguz: **Thank you, you're not the first to mention that you like the way I write dialog and I hope that my latest chapter doesn't disappoint.

**Well that's all for this chapter see you all in your stories reviews and in my next chapter.**


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